What is toughness?

[JTG]

From a 15 year old bull...

...that lived its whole life on a hillside.

 

[Creativero]

The amount of energy a player can absorb without failing. I'm studying for a Material Science exam.

 

[cajal]

I guess the reason I posted this thread was to recognize how tough this Pens team is mentally and physically. They have surprised their fans and the league with their play over the last several months and they deserve every accolade they have received for their 2nd half play.

They're definitely going to be a tough out for whomever they play next week. Thinking back to early December.... it's amazing how their toughness has improved.

What a ride. Who knows what the playoffs will bring, but this team knows exactly what they are and what they have to do.

Thanks for the responses

 

[Creativero]

The amount of energy a player can absorb without failing. I'm studying for a Material Science exam.

 

[lastcupever75]

I think people are confusing toughness for being relentless.

That's how I wild describe this team. They just keep coming at you. I wouldn't call that toughness

 

[Corvidae]

Toughness was not the game where the Pens were beating the Caps and wilted after the hitting picked up and lost.

Toughness was the games where the Pens were beating the Caps and finished them out in spite of their oafish nonsense.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Toughness is doing as much illegal stuff as possible on the ice and getting away with it.

 

[Terrapin]

I would call this team tenacious, relentless, etc. They are 'tough' in the sense that they will play through being physically abused, where as other teams may wilt, play tentatively, etc.

According to Merriman:

Simple Definition of tough
: very difficult to do or deal with
: physically and emotionally strong : able to do hard work, to deal with harsh conditions, etc.
: physically strong and violent

By definition, they definitely are difficult to deal with. They are emotionally strong. They aren't physically strong, and certainly aren't violent.

So in a sense, yes, they are mentally tough. They also seem more willing than teams past to go to the tough areas to make a play. But again, I would consider them more tenacious than tough.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Well "toughness" is a word that means the condition of being "tough", formed by adding -ness the to the adjective stem "tough". This comes to us through the historical suffix *-nassuz (Proto-Germanic) which due to vowel shifting and corruption eventually became the abstract suffix -nis/-nes in Old English then -nes and -nesse in Middle English (showing the influence of Middle French) and finally -ness in modern day English.

 

[cajal]

Well "toughness" is a word that means the condition of being "tough", formed by adding -ness the to the adjective stem "tough". This comes to us through the historical suffix *-nassuz (Proto-Germanic) which due to vowel shifting and corruption eventually became the abstract suffix -nis/-nes in Old English then -nes and -nesse in Middle English (showing the influence of Middle French) and finally -ness in modern day English.

Thanks so much.

Nicely done.

 

[Bar Down]

This team is tough, but it's a different kind of tough. It's not of the "heavy hitting" or "borderline dirty" or "goon enforcement" variety. It's a team that continually grinds and battles and outworks the other team. And above all, no matter the situation, they have become mentally tough. And that makes us a tough team to play against.

 

[Riptide]

And that's what's wrong with the NHL, of course - and I agree. It's utterly silly... but probably will never change.

Except that it already is changing. We used to see those fights all the time 5 years ago. And while I won't say we never see them now... it's a lot rarer. What's more common is when you have a couple of bottom 6 players who go at it - like when Cole went up against M.Martin.

 

[billybudd]

Team's taken a page out of Hornqvist's book and just become a PITA to play against on account of determination and work. I personally think the Kings brand of "we'll hurt you a lot more over seven games than you'll hurt us" works better (they're something like 10-1 in their last few playoff series, with the only loss coming in a long series against the Hawks), but what the Penguins are doing since the middle of January is the next best thing.